Now the part of this chapter, Joel chapter 1 that I'd like to focus on is in verse number
2 where the Bible reads, Hear this ye old men, and give ye all ye inhabitants of the
land.
Had this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?
Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children
another generation.
What I want to preach about tonight is old age, or being old, or old men.
Now, we don't have a whole lot of older people in our church, but some of you are getting
a little bit older, and honestly, this is a sermon that everyone can take in and apply
because we're all going to be old someday, we're all heading there, and even if you're
only in your 20s or 30s or 40s tonight, it's still good for you to start developing the
right philosophy toward old age now, before you get there, so that you'll have the wisdom
necessary when the time comes, and even children and young people can learn from the sermon
tonight.
The Bible talks a lot about this subject.
First of all, I want to say this.
I don't want to say anything tonight in my sermon that would be disrespectful in any
way toward those that are elderly.
The Bible reads in Leviticus 19, 32, you don't have to turn there, Thou shalt rise up before
the hoary head, or the gray head.
He says you should stand when someone who's older enters the room.
He says thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man, and
fear thy God, I am the Lord.
So the Bible definitely teaches that we should have respect for those that are elderly, and
treat them with respect.
But unfortunately in the Bible, there are a lot of good examples of people living out
their old age, and there are also a lot of bad examples of people living out their old
age the wrong way.
For example, the Bible reads in Proverbs 16, 31, the hoary head, meaning the gray-haired
head, is a crown of glory if it be found in the way of righteousness.
See, gray-headedness and being old is an honorable thing, but only if it's found in the way of
righteousness.
Now, not all old people are wise, unfortunately.
Many old people live a foolish life, and there's an example in the Bible of those who live
a good life, and there's an example of those who live a bad life, and I'm going to show
you those examples tonight.
But one of the things that prompted me to preach this sermon was I just noticed, and
this is actually something I've been noticing for many years now, is that whenever I'm at
the grocery store, or when I'm at places where alcohol is sold, I notice elderly people with
their cart full of alcohol.
Who's noticed that before?
I mean, even more so than the young people.
And you know, we think of young people going out and getting drunk and partying, but unfortunately
when you go to the store, you'll see the opposite in many cases, where just cart loads of alcohol
are being consumed and purchased by the elderly.
And the Bible says in Proverbs 20, and tonight's sermon's not about alcohol, but the Bible
says wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
So a person who's elderly is not automatically a wise person, because I know that when they're
filling their cart with alcohol, that is a sign that they lack wisdom, because the Bible
says they're not wise, if they're consuming large quantities of wine and alcohol that
they're purchasing.
And I looked at that, and it bothered me, because I thought to myself, these should
be the leaders, these should be the examples, these should be the beacons of righteousness
in our day, but they're not always.
Now when they are, praise the Lord.
And that's part of why I'm preaching this sermon, is to admonish those of you who will
be old one day to be the right kind of old person, and that maybe old people might hear
this sermon and think to themselves that they need to be the right kind of person in their
old age.
Now let me give you some examples of elderly people in the Bible, before I get into the
points of my sermon.
First of all, Moses is a great example of a guy who did great things for God in his
old age.
He was 80 years old, many people don't realize this, he was 80 years old when he faced off
with Pharaoh and said, let my people go.
He was an old man.
Caleb was 85 years old when he had more courage and more bravery than anyone else at the tomb
of Israel.
They were all trying to flee away from the battles that were in the mountains and the
battles that were against the iron chariots and the Canaanites, but Caleb picked the hardest
battle, and when he was 85 years old, he said, as my strength was then, so is my strength
now both to go out and come in, and he made the famous statement, give me that mountain.
He wanted the hardest battle, and he won that battle, even as a very old man.
So there are great examples of people in the Bible who did their greatest works in old
age.
Now I don't know if his strength was really as much when he was 85 as he was 45, that's
what he claimed, but whether it was true or not, he thought it was, and that's the greatness
of Caleb, that he led his troops to victory, even at old age.
A bad example of someone in old age is King Solomon.
King Solomon was a man who started out great, he ruled as a righteous king, but the Bible
says in 1 Kings 11, 4, for it came to pass when Solomon was old, that his wives turned
away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as
was the heart of David his father.
So there's a man who was a great man, who in old age turned away to worshiping other
gods because of the influence of all the foreign wives that he had married that had brought
in a lot of false religion, he was unequally yoked with way too many women, he said he
had just been married to one person in the first place.
And so there are all types of examples like that, but the Bible says the glory heads are
the crown of glory that could be found in the way of righteousness.
The glory of young men is their strength, and the beauty of old men is the grey head.
Let's go through a few of the mistakes that the elderly make.
The first mistake, and if you would turn to Psalm 71, is failing to teach the next generation.
Failing to teach the next generation the wisdom that they should have.
You see we read it in Joel chapter 1 where we started out tonight, we read the whole
chapter, where it said, hear this ye old men, and give ear all ye inhabitants of the land.
If this has been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers, tell ye your children
of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children tell another generation.
So he's admonishing the old men to pass on the truths of God's word unto the next generation.
Look at Psalm 71 verse 17, O God, thou hast taught me from my youth, and hitherto have
I declared thy wondrous works.
Now also when I am old and grey headed O God, forsake me not until I have showed thy strength
unto this generation, and thy power to everyone that is to come.
He's saying, let me live long enough God, even in my old age, that I might teach the
next generation the truth, and teach wisdom and the power of your word unto the next generation.
This is a mistake when elderly people fail to teach the wisdom of God's word and the
truths that they've learned throughout their lives unto the next generation.
Look at Psalm 78, just a few pages to the right of your Bible, Psalm 78 verse 4.
The Bible reads, we will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation
to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he had done.
For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded
our fathers that they should make them known to their children, that the generation to
come might know them, even the children which should be born, who should arise and declare
them to their children, that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works
of God, but keep his commandments.
God is saying over and over again that we need to teach the next generation, and he
specifically addresses the old men, saying it's your job to teach the next generation.
There are so many instances in the Bible where the Bible talks about a generation rising
up who knew not the Lord, that is a failure to teach.
Now the elderly people today in our country, and you know, whatever age you want to put
on there, the older people in our country, they ought to be the ones who have the most
wisdom, and they ought to be the ones that are teaching the ways of the truth and God's
word to the next generation.
Because you see, they lived in a generation that was completely different than the generation
that we're living in today.
I mean today, the sin and perversion and the filth that runs rampant in our nation, it
was unheard of when they were younger.
They need to lift up their voices.
They need to cry out and raise up their voices and say, hey, it wasn't always this way.
Let me show you the old-fashioned way.
Let me tell you the traditions that we had when this country was still a somewhat godly
place.
But today, many of the elderly are failing to fill that role and to pass on the truth
to the next generation.
In many cases, we see the elderly today tolerating sin and wickedness even more than the younger
generation.
It's pretty sad when a young person has to stand up and rebuke sin and iniquity and older
men stand silent.
They're silent about the Sodomites.
They're silent about the homos.
They're silent about all the other sin that we see in our day.
That's just a glaring example.
They're silent about the modernism that's crept into the church.
They're silent as the rock band is brought into church.
They're silent as a touchy-feely sensual music that glorifies the singer is brought
in.
They're silent as the hymns are cast out, the great hymns of the faith, and replaced
with something that sounds like a lounge Las Vegas show in the house of God.
They ought to be standing up for the truth and teaching the next generation what the
music ought to be like, teaching the next generation what clean living is like and what
it's like to be married to one person until death do us part and to live a decent and
godly and clean life and to live a life that's an example to others.
Look, they ought to be the example, but today many of the elderly are just accepting of
modernistic thinking and accepting of the sinful ways of our country when really they
lived in a day when the things that are commonplace were unheard of in their day.
Do you think that the homos, didn't they march in Phoenix, all the homos, the perverts,
whatever you want to call them?
The perverts were marching through the city yesterday, guess what, that wasn't happening
when the elderly today, when they were my age and when they were your age.
That wasn't happening.
They ought to be standing up and crying out against it.
They ought to be saying, hey, what are you doing to our country?
What are you doing with our morality today?
It's funny, I was talking to my father-in-law, and thank God some older people do have the
right views on one of these things.
I was talking to my father-in-law, and he's not that old, he's actually younger than my
parents, he's my wife's dad, he's been staying with us, and he's 55.
And his wife had had some relative, I forget which relative, but his wife had a relative
who was a sodomite, who was a homo.
And he didn't want his kids to be around that, because it's so perverted.
And so basically, they wanted to come visit, and here's what my father-in-law told him.
He said, I'll tell you what, he said, you can come visit me as soon as you two queers
bring the child with you that you produce together.
And he said, hey, you can stay for a month, you can stay as long as you want.
As soon as you bring the child that you two produce together, you can come stay with me.
You know, that's the kind of attitude that that generation ought to be having towards
sodomy.
Now that's the attitude that I have toward it.
And I'm only 30 years old, and you can say, oh, you're a young whippersnapper up there.
You know, oh yeah, you're just young.
And that's why you don't have a lot of elderly people in your church, because you're so young.
Yeah, but you know what, I'm more old-fashioned than the old, unfortunately.
And would to God that the elderly in this nation would go back and think about their
life and think about how it was when they were young, and think about the way that things
used to be in church, and the way preaching used to be, and the way the hymns used to
be, and the way soul winning used to be, and not just sit by and idly let our country go
to hell, but to stand up and say, wait a minute, I'm not done yet.
I may be 70 years old, or 80 years old, or 85 years old, but I still have a throat and
lungs to proclaim the truth, I'm going to be a Moses, I'm going to be a Caleb, I'm going
to be a man who will stand up for the truth, even in my old age.
I'm not just going to sit by and let the young people ruin the country.
I'm going to stand up and stand in the gap and be counted.
Now the second point is this, go to Acts chapter 2, and my first point kind of leads into my
second point.
The second point is this, the mistake that elderly people make is that they think that
they're through serving God.
So first of all, the mistake that they make is failing to teach the next generation.
When the Bible says over and over that that's their duty and their job, as older people
who've had more experience, they've seen more, they've learned more, I mean think about
it, if they've been reading their Bible their whole life, they're going to know a lot of
Bible when they're old.
If they've been serving God in the church their whole life, they're going to know a
lot.
So their job is to teach the next generation to pass on the traditions that they've had
to the next generation with their biblical traditions.
But number two, the mistake that they make is they think that they're through serving
God.
Now the Bible, obviously I gave you examples of men who did great things in their old age,
Moses, Caleb, etcetera, but look at verse 16 of Acts chapter 2.
The Bible says, but this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel, that's where we
started reading today.
And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my spirit upon
all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.
When he says prophesy, he's talking about preaching.
And he says here, your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.
And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my spirit,
and they shall prophesy.
Now what was he referring to?
Well this is the day of Pentecost.
And at the day of Pentecost, there were 120 believers of the early church there, both
men and women, and they were preaching the gospel to the lost.
They were preaching the gospel to the unsaved, and eventually of course there were about
3,000 people who got saved and baptized as a result.
Many people mistakenly believe that Peter got up and preached, and 3,000 people got
saved and baptized as a result of Peter's preaching.
That's not what happened.
The Bible makes it very clear that there were 120 people there doing the preaching.
They were speaking all in different languages, because the spirit of the Lord came upon them
and this miracle took place, where even though there were people there from all over the
world representing at least 17 different languages that are listed there, they were able to speak
and hear God's word in their own language.
So there were 120 people.
You say, do you believe in women preachers?
Well I definitely don't believe in women behind the pulpit in the local church.
That's wrong.
The Bible says that a woman should keep silence in the church, it's not permitted under them
to speak.
1 Corinthians 14.
It also reiterates that in the Epistle written under Timothy.
But I do believe that it is a woman's job to preach God's word unto her children, and
also to preach God's word to the lost.
To preach by one-on-one, solity for example, you know, knocking doors.
And I thank God that our church has always had a lot of women in it that go out and knock
doors and preach the gospel and win souls.
A lot of people think that's just for the men, but it's for the ladies as well.
We all ought to witness and give the gospel unto the lost.
Now obviously it's not a woman's place to lead or to usurp authority over the man, it's
not a woman's place to preach in church or to speak in church, but when it comes to soul
winning it's for everybody.
And this was a big soul winning thing at the day of Pentecost.
They're out winning souls, they're out giving the gospel.
The ladies were involved, the men were involved, but not only that, the Bible says that there
were old men that were there being used by God.
Did you notice that?
He said this is a fulfillment of the book of Joel when it said that your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream
dreams.
And upon the servants and upon the handmaids, I was poured out of my spirit in those days
and they shall prophesy.
So we see that God's not through with the old men.
He wants them to teach the next generation.
He wants them to do great works for God as Moses, Caleb, and others.
And he wants them to win souls.
He wants them to give the gospel.
Now, the Bible obviously realizes and God realizes that when you get older your strength
fails a little bit and you might not be able to put in as many hours as you did when you
were younger.
But you know what?
Don't just throw in the towel when you get older.
Don't have this retirement philosophy that says, well you know what, I'm done, I've done
my duty.
Now I'm just going to play.
Now I'm just going to relax.
Now I'm just going to retire.
I'm just going to play games all day, play golf all day.
You know what?
God's not through with you.
Okay?
It's a better retirement in heaven.
Why don't you go to that big golf course in the sky, my friend?
Why don't you go to that big sun city in the sky and the mobile home park in the sky and
the motor home in the sky?
Why don't you do that instead of trying to do it here?
Because listen, if God was through with you, if you were done doing the works that God
had for you, you'd be up there retired.
You could pull your socks up up there and do play golf.
But you know what?
If you're still on the serve, God wants you to serve Him.
He wants you to live for Him.
Don't get this attitude that says, well, there's nothing more for me to do.
I'm all done.
I'm old.
I'm going to sit back.
Use your abilities and your talents and your wisdom and you know, the physical body may
be failing.
But you know what?
Whatever strength you have, use it for the glory of God and don't give up.
Don't quit.
You have a reason to live because you have a job, a job that God has given you to do.
Otherwise He would have already brought you home to the retirement in heaven.
So number one, they make the mistake of failing to teach the next generation, failing to stand
up for the truth and old fashioned morality.
Number two, they think they're through serving God.
Number three, sometimes those that are old are unwilling to be corrected with the Bible.
Have you ever heard the saying, and go to Ecclesiastes chapter four if you would, Ecclesiastes
chapter four.
Have you ever heard the saying, you can't teach an old dog new traits?
You know, sometimes when people get older, they don't want to be corrected.
Now this can be applied to anybody really.
The young need to learn to be corrected too.
Cain's big mistake in the story with Cain and Abel in Genesis 4 is that he would not
be corrected.
He brought the wrong offering.
He disobeyed God.
Abel obeyed God on the other hand and Cain refused to take correction, refused to change
and so he just got angry and killed his brother.
So even the young people need to realize, hey, we need to be corrected.
We might be wrong about something.
Maybe we've been doing something wrong our whole life.
We need to be willing to change.
Look at Ecclesiastes chapter four verse 13, the Bible reads, better is a poor and a wise
child than an old and foolish king who will, watch this, no more be admonished.
So here we're talking about a man who gets to a point where he can no longer be corrected.
Now that means that in the past he took correction.
In the past you could admonish him, but now that he's old, he will no more be admonished.
He thinks that he can't be corrected anymore.
He's too old to change, but you know, the Bible is teaching here, we ought to be willing
to be admonished at all stages of life.
Just because you're old doesn't mean you know everything, okay?
I don't know everything.
You don't know everything.
We all need to be willing to be corrected from the Bible.
When the Bible corrects us, we need to be willing to change and God refers to someone,
even if they're a king, even if they're a great man, he refers to them as being foolish
if they will no longer be admonished.
Therefore the wise elderly person is still willing to take admonishment.
They're going to learn all the way to the end.
They don't think to themselves, well I've already learned everything I need to learn,
I'm just going to coast.
You ought to be learning your whole life.
You ought to be coming to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night, even in
old age, to learn.
Not having an attitude of, well I've been in church my whole life so I've heard it all,
seen it all, done it all, this book is so deep.
There's so much truth in this book, none of us will ever know everything in the Bible.
There's always more to learn from God's Word.
And so elderly people ought not make the mistake of not being willing to be corrected
by God's Word, because we can all take correction, we all need to learn, we all need to change.
But number four, go to Psalm 92, and this may not apply to every single elderly person,
but number four, they think that they're through having children.
Now in some cases that's true, they are through having children.
It depends on how old we're talking.
I'm not putting any age on this sermon, I'm just preaching about getting older in general.
And when people get older, they think they're through having children sometimes.
Now here's the thing, older can mean different things to different people.
And a lot of it has to do with your mentality, because some people, they think they're old
when they're like 40.
Now I don't think that's old at all, I don't even think 50 is old.
I think that old would be something more like 70 or 80, now you're old.
I don't think that somebody who's 50 or 60 should be considered just, oh man, you're really old.
Now some people think they're old when they're 30, some people think they're old when they're 40,
some people think they're old when they're 70.
So old is a relative term.
When the Bible calls people really old, usually they're like 80.
When the Bible starts calling them old, that's usually the number that comes out.
70, 80 years old is what God refers to as a very old person.
Some people that are 60 are much more active than others.
Some people that are 60 are much healthier than others.
So it's different from person to person, so there's not a blanket set age we can put on this.
But in our society, definitely someone who's in their 40s, most people consider that person
to be an older person.
I think that that person should be in their prime when they're 40 years old.
I'm 30, I feel like I'm in my prime, and I hope that 10 years from now I'm not already gonna be
on the downward trend, I don't believe I will, I hope not.
Where did I have you turn?
Did I have you turn anywhere?
Psalm 92, okay, look at Psalm 92.
It says in verse, see, I'm already getting old.
I'm having a senior moment, I don't even know where I took it, just kidding.
Anyway, Psalm 92 verse 12 says this.
The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree.
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.
So God's talking about someone who's righteous and somebody who's planted in God's house.
That means they're not coming every once in a while when they feel like it.
And they're planted, they're a fixture, they're there.
They're consistently in God's house.
He says those that are planted in the house of the Lord,
I lost my place here, shall flourish in the courts of our God.
Watch this in verse 14.
They shall still bring forth fruit in old age.
Do you see that?
They shall still bring forth fruit in old age.
They shall be fat and flourishing to show that the Lord is upright.
He is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in it.
Now this could have both a physical and a spiritual application.
Because bringing forth fruit can happen spiritually when you win souls to Christ.
You see, when my wife and I have children together, we're reproducing.
We're being fruitful and multiplying as God said in the book of Genesis.
Being fruitful, bringing forth fruit is like when you take an apple and you plant it in the ground.
What grows?
An apple tree that produces more apples.
There's a multiplication that takes place.
That's why fruitful and multiply are put together in the same way.
Now when the Bible talks about bringing forth fruit in old age, this could go back to the last point.
Those that are old should be winning souls to Christ.
That's a way for them to bring forth new life spiritually.
Maybe they're not having physical children at that age, but they're having spiritual children every time they win somebody to Christ.
You see, Paul said of Onesimus, he said, he's my son whom I've begotten in my bonds.
Now Onesimus was not a physical son that he begat.
It was someone that he won to Christ in the jail cell.
He said, he's my son in the faith.
I've begotten him in my bonds.
And so those that are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God, and they'll bring forth fruit even in old age that will be winning souls.
And I think of my grandma.
My grandma is 90 years old, and she is still a soul winner.
She's 90.
I mean, she has gone out door-to-door soul winning in the past few years.
She has gone into nursing homes on a soul winning expedition.
I mean, she is winning souls and preaching the gospel at 90.
Thank God for that example.
Thank God for that godly Christian lady that's my grandma that can be an example in that way.
She has won souls in the past few years, even at 90.
She's bringing forth fruit in old age.
Why?
Because she's been planted in the house of God.
Why?
Because she's not one of the people at the grocery store with the cart, you know, the elderly couples with the cart full of booze at the grocery store.
You know, don't become a wino in old age.
It's true.
Literally, I can think of other relatives, even in my own family, that I would put in the wino category.
And I mean, they are literally, I mean, they're just, it's like younger in life, they weren't that into it.
And as soon as they got old and retired, they become obsessed with wine.
They travel around to all the vineyards wine tasting, and they have a wine cellar, and they have wine coolers, and wine stacked up everywhere.
Wine is a marker, strong drink is raging, and whoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
And I would think that by the time you got older in life, you'd have the wisdom to stay away from alcohol.
But in many cases, they don't.
But I thank God for my grandma, who never touches alcohol, and has not touched it in decades.
I don't, I literally, I don't think she's ever touched it in her entire life.
You know, I'm pretty sure that she never has.
I mean, dead sure since I've been alive, but she does not touch it, and her sister didn't touch it either.
And I thank God for that.
But she's an example of someone bringing forth fruit spiritually in old age.
But how about, how about physically bringing forth fruit in old age?
Now, there are many examples in the Bible of people who were older, who had children when they were older.
I just thought of a few.
First of all, Isaac was born unto Abraham and Sarah.
And that was a miracle that God did, obviously.
But Abraham was 100, and Sarah was 90.
Now, that was a miracle.
That was shocking to them.
That was something that God did.
But still, they had a great son, Isaac, who was a godly, righteous son, and they had him in old age.
But what about Joseph?
The Bible says that Joseph was the son of Jacob's old age, and he'd already had many children.
And he had Joseph in his old age.
Of course, Joseph was a righteous, godly man as well.
The Lord was with them.
David was the son of Jesse's old age.
He was the eighth son, remember?
All the sons lined up, and the youngest was out in the field.
And when David was just a boy and came to play the harp before King Saul,
the Bible says that Jesse went for an old man in the days of Saul.
So when Saul was on the throne, Jesse already was considered by the Bible an old man.
So he was probably 70 or 80, because that's when the Bible starts calling people old men, usually.
David was born to Jesse when Jesse was a very old man.
He'd already had seven other sons, and he had daughters.
Now, I don't know how many daughters he had, but the Bible talks about David's nieces and nephews from his sisters.
And so David was the son of Jesse's old age.
John the Baptist was born unto Zacharias and Elizabeth in their old age, the Bible specifically tells them.
Now look, who wouldn't want to have an Isaac for a son, a Joseph for a son, a David for a son, a John the Baptist for your son?
These are great men of God, and they were all born to people who were still having children in their old age, the Bible says.
Now, obviously, you say, well, I don't think, and a lot of people today, listen to me now,
a lot of people today will criticize you for having children when you're older.
Who's heard of any of that type of criticism?
Yeah, they'll get upset about it.
They'll say, that's irresponsible, that's wrong.
Many will say that it's such a higher probability of having a disabled child.
Well, first of all, let me say this.
From the studies that I've looked at, it seems that the probability of having a disabled child when you're old is when you don't have any children before that,
and then you just start having children in your 40s.
You know, then there could be a probability.
But here's the thing, it's still just a certain probability.
It's not like you're just guaranteed to have a disabled child when you're in your 40s.
But who cares if you have a disabled child?
Why is it just the worst thing in the world?
Are we Nazis or something?
Like, it's just the worst thing in the world to have a disabled child?
Like, we just need to get rid of all disabled children in the world by making sure that people don't get pregnant when they're in their 40s?
Look, is this the third right or something?
What is wrong with having a disabled child?
If God gives me a disabled child, I'm going to love it and take care of it, and it's going to be my child.
And I'm not going to sit there and say, oh, I wish this child would have never been born.
Now, that's a wicked philosophy.
That's a eugenicist philosophy.
That is a false doctrine.
And we ought to be careful that we don't get infected by our society that wants you to have all these tests done while you're pregnant, and then they'll tell you to abort it.
It's going to be disabled, abort it.
It'll be happier if it was never alive.
You know, I know a guy who is severely disabled, and I mean, this guy is severely disabled.
He's one of the most disabled people I've seen, and you know what?
He's thankful for every day that he's alive.
He's not saying, I wish I'd never been born.
He's enjoying life.
He's living his life for the glory of God.
He's not going to sit there and say, I wish I weren't here.
And I guarantee you, his parents aren't saying, oh, we wish he'd never been born.
No, children have value if they're a human being.
It doesn't matter if they're disabled.
So you can't sit there and just say, well, what?
You have a 1 in 50 chance of having a disabled child, or whatever the statistic is.
You say, well, I don't care what it is.
First of all, it usually applies to those who are just starting having kids at that age.
And number two, even if you are starting to have kids, I would still say to go ahead with it, because you know what?
That's just a statistic.
And God is the one who is in control of these things.
And he opens and closes the womb.
And God can have a healthy child be born to those that are in old age, if he did it for Abraham, and Sarah, and Zacharias, and Elizabeth, and Jesse, and all these other examples throughout the Bible.
And there are many people who have children in their 40s, and people say, oh, you're not going to be able to take care of it.
The Bible even says in Genesis 37, 3, now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat of many colors.
So God is showing that as people have children in their old age, they love them more, if anything, because they grow in their love.
They grow in their appreciation for their children.
And so I personally do not buy into this philosophy that says, you know, oh, we're too old to have kids.
Well, here's the thing.
Here's the way I look at it.
As soon as I'm too old to have kids, the children are going to just stop coming.
I mean, think about it.
You say, well, how do you know when your wife's too old to have children when she stops getting pregnant?
Because you know what?
I'm sorry, but I don't believe in this philosophy, the Walgreens mentality.
I'm not going to go to the voodoo science aisle.
I'm not going to go to the perverted aisle at Walgreens and buy accoutrements down there.
I'm not going to do it.
You won't see me there.
You're not going to catch me there.
I ain't going to be there because you know what?
I'm going to have a normal relationship with my wife for the rest of my life, take it to the bank.
I've had a normal relationship with my wife since we've been married.
I'm going to have a normal relationship with my wife till death do us part.
I'm not going to participate.
I'm not going down to the pharmacy.
I'm not going down that aisle, my friend.
You won't find me there.
I'm not going to do it.
I don't believe in it.
And my children are naturally spaced at about two years apart.
Just my wife, she nurses the children.
She breastfeeds the children.
And they come out.
They come every couple of years.
Every two years or so, there's another one.
And you say, how long is that going to go on for?
I guess we'll find out, won't we?
But I hope that since I'm planted in the house of God, listen to me now,
I hope since I'm planted in the house of God,
I hope that I'll still break forth fruit in old age.
I don't know.
And so far, I have six children, and the seventh is on the way.
Now, here's the thing.
Maybe that's the last one.
I don't know.
I don't just sit there and do the math.
Well, my wife's going to be selling children when she's 47.
I don't know.
But you know what?
I just pray and I thank God that number seven's on the way.
I thank God for the six that I have.
I thank God for number seven that's on the way.
And I just pray that God will continue to bless me with more children.
And if he does, great.
If he sees fit that this is the last one, then you know what?
He is the one with all wisdom.
Some people in the Bible were godly righteous people,
and they were only blessed with one child.
Look at Abraham and Sarah, one child.
Look at Isaac and Rebecca, two children.
But it's up to God.
God gave unto he-man in the book of 2 Chronicles 14 sons and three daughters.
That's the he-man that I want my children to emulate,
not the one that's a cartoon.
But the he-man in the Bible had 14 sons and three daughters.
Other people were only blessed with one child.
They only had two children.
It's not a matter of how many.
It's just let God bless you with how many he sees fit.
And it is a blessing.
The Bible says children are a heritage of the Lord,
and the fruit of the womb is his reward, not punishment, reward.
Not like Obama said, well, I don't want my children
to be punished with a baby.
He says something like that.
If my daughter makes a mistake, I don't want them to be punished with a baby.
Because he's saying they ought to be able to abort it.
Well, here's the thing.
I don't think that a baby's a punishment.
Now, if you're out sleeping around and you're not married,
you've got other punishments coming.
And it's not the baby.
That's not your punishment.
You're going to get the punishment somewhere else from God.
But maybe if people would guard their children, and especially
their daughters, and keep them pure and teach them to be pure,
they wouldn't have to sit around saying,
well, what if they're out committing fornication?
Well, be planted in the house of God and teach them better than that.
But a baby is never a punishment from God.
It's a blessing from God.
Other punishments are out there, believe me,
for those who balk at God's laws.
Let me show you one last example.
Go to 2 Samuel 19.
This example of an elderly person in the Bible,
I think this is a very insightful passage,
because it shows us the realities of old age.
And it also gives an example of a godly man in his old age.
And that man is Barzillai.
Now, in 2 Samuel 19, Barzillai had helped King David.
He'd been a true and loyal friend to King David.
And Barzillai had also supported David financially
in his time of need, his hour of need.
And so David is coming to repay Barzillai
for his loyalty, for his service, and for his generosity.
And this passage shows us both the realities of old age
and also a great example of a godly man in his old age.
Look at verse 32.
Now, Barzillai was a very aged man.
So here's an example of an old man, even four score years old.
So again, when the Bible talks about people being old,
it usually talks about them being 70 or 80 years old.
This guy was eight.
And he had provided the king of sustenance, or food,
while he lay a man in, for he was a very great man.
Great man meaning he had great means.
He was a wealthy man.
And the king said unto Barzillai, come thou over with me,
and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem.
And Barzillai said unto the king,
how long have I to live that I should go up
with the king unto Jerusalem?
I am this day four score years old.
And can I discern between good and evil?
Can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink?
Can I hear any more the voice of singing men
and singing women?
Wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden
unto my lord the king?
Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king.
And why should the king recompense at me
with such a reward?
Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again,
that I may die in my own city,
and be buried by the grave of my father and of my mother.
But behold thy servant, Kimham.
Let him go over with my lord the king,
and do to him what shall seem good unto thee.
And the king answered, Kimham shall go over with me.
And I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee,
and whatsoever thou shalt require of me,
that will I do for thee.
And so here's an old man.
And he gives us a little insight
into the realities of old age.
He says, look, I'm old.
I'm 80 years old.
He says, I can't taste food anymore.
I can't really tell the difference.
Like if you're gonna take me to Jerusalem
and feed me with filet mignon and caviar
and all the fancy delicacies of your kitchen there
as a king.
I mean, who wouldn't want to dine with a king, right?
Get all that good food, that expertly prepared food.
He said, you know what, I can't taste the difference.
If I eat a bowl of oatmeal or if I eat a filet mignon,
you know what I mean?
It's not that different to me.
I can't really savor the flavor because I'm older.
He said all the drinks that you have to prepare,
I'm not gonna be able, you know, so much for wine tasting.
You know what I mean?
He's like, I can't even taste it.
He says, I can't even hear properly the voices
of the singing men and the singing women.
He said, I'm hard of hearing.
So I can't even really fully appreciate the music
that's gonna be played in your household.
And so he said, instead of you treating me well,
instead of you feeding me and showing me
all the lavish luxuries for what I've done for you,
he said, here's my servant, Kim Ham.
I want you to take him in my place
and I want you to treat him good.
Give him the good food.
Give him the singing and all the royal treatment.
Let him enjoy it.
Let him experience it because he said,
you know, I'm too old to really enjoy it.
And David said, you know what, I will do that.
I'm gonna treat Kim Ham like I would treat you.
Now this is a great picture of the gospel too,
great picture of salvation.
Did Kim Ham do anything to earn the luxuries?
No, it was Barzillai who earned it and paid everything,
but he did it for someone else.
You know, that's sort of like our salvation.
One day we're gonna dine at the king's table.
The Bible says, blessed is the man that eateth
and drinketh in the kingdom of heaven.
One day we'll hear music unlike we've ever heard.
More beautiful, more glorious.
One day we'll eat better food than we've ever eaten.
And we'll eat and drink in the presence
of our Lord Jesus Christ in heaven.
And we'll be like a bunch of Kim Hams.
We didn't deserve to be there.
We didn't earn the right to be there.
It was all paid for by somebody else's work.
Just like Jesus paid for our salvation
in our home in heaven, Barzillai paid for Kim Ham
to receive these blessings.
And that's a great picture of salvation.
But not only that, it shows us the realities of old age.
If you're gonna have an enjoyable old age, listen to me now.
If you're gonna enjoy old age,
it's not gonna be through wine tasting.
It's not gonna be through drinking.
It's not gonna be through eating a bunch of fancy meals.
It's not gonna be through music.
If you're gonna enjoy your old age,
it's gonna be through others.
It's gonna be through others.
How did Barzillai get enjoyment in his old age?
By blessing someone else, by helping someone else.
So if you're a person who lived their life
just for your own pleasure, just for your own enjoyment,
just whatever feels good to you,
whatever's the most selfish thing for yourself,
you're not gonna enjoy old age.
Because you're gonna get to old age
and you can't enjoy things anymore.
The things you used to enjoy
aren't gonna be enjoyable anymore
because your senses will be dull.
But if you're a person who gets their enjoyment in life
from serving others, from helping others,
from winning people to Christ, from teaching your children,
from teaching your grandchildren
and your great-grandchildren,
if you get your enjoyment from loving
and serving other people and dedicating your life
to helping other people, you will enjoy old age
because when you're old, you'll still be able to do that.
And you might even have more money to do that.
You might even have more opportunities to do that.
You might have the ability like Barzillai
to enjoy it through someone else and to be good to others.
So if you're a selfish person, you're gonna hate old age
because it's all negative, weaker, dull senses.
But if you're a person who loves other people,
you'll enjoy it because the Bible says that,
let me find my place here.
The Bible says in Proverbs,
oh man, is this not in my sermon?
Let me find it here, I know it's in here somewhere.
Bear with me, here we go.
Proverbs 17, six, children's children
are the crown of old men
and the glory of children are their fathers.
The Bible says children's children are the crown of old men.
And so if you're a person who takes joy in your children
and your grandchildren or in winning souls to Christ
or in just being a blessing to the people around you
and loving people and loving your church,
you're gonna enjoy old age
because you're just gonna have more grandchildren.
You're just gonna have more friends.
You're just gonna have a greater church family.
And so start thinking about this now.
Maybe you're young, but remember what I preached
about this morning, being short-sighted?
Think about your life in the long term
and think about what kind of a person
do I wanna be at old age?
What kind of a life do I wanna live?
Is it gonna be all about just gratifying myself
or is it gonna be about other people?
Am I gonna be a Barzillai or am I gonna be a King Solomon?
That's my right time for a prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word, dear God,
and for these admonitions.
Help us to take them to heart, dear God,
and no matter what age we are,
help us to love you and serve you and do the right things.
Help us to also learn from these examples.
Help us to seek out older people
that do have wisdom and knowledge
and to gain that wisdom and knowledge
and help those who are older
to realize they're not through yet
and that they need to serve you
all the way to the finish line, all the way to the end.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.